Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in a speech at a Russian-African parliamentary conference in Moscow today that grain exports under the Black Sea Agreement have unfairly prioritized "well-fed European markets" over African countries.
Putin hinted that if the agreement is not renewed, Moscow could provide free quantities of grains "to African countries in great need," without going into details.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on its website today that Moscow decided to limit the extension of the agreement to 60 days due to "lack of progress... on the normalization of local agricultural exports," as stated by them.
They noted that the extension of the agreement in May is contingent upon certain conditions, which include restoring access to the SWIFT financial system for the state-owned Russian agricultural bank, resuming supplies of agricultural machinery, and lifting the freeze on assets and foreign accounts owned by Russian agricultural companies.
On Saturday, the agreement allowing safe grain exports from Ukrainian and Russian ports on the Black Sea was extended for 60 days instead of 120, half of the targeted period, after Moscow stated that any further extension beyond May 18 depends on lifting some Western sanctions.
The grain agreement, mediated by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aims to address the global food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, especially as Russia and Ukraine are major grain exporters.
